Destiny

"Go away."

Stepping forward, Lesauvage said, "Get out of there. You're digging too slowly."

Eyes tearing with emotion, looking scared and confused, Avery climbed from the hole. He threw the shovel back into the half-dug pit and started cursing.

Quick as a snake, Lesauvage slammed his pistol into the side of Avery's head. Dazed and hurting, the young man dropped to the ground. He rocked and mewled in pain, holding his head, bleeding down the side of his face. Crimson drops fell from his jawline to the stone floor of the cave.

Anger surged through A

Then she drew back her hand and started to dig. Now wasn't the time. But soon.

For a time only the sounds of the storm and the two shovels cleaving the earth existed. Thudding impacts competed with the rumbling that sounded as if it were on top of the mountain.

A moment later, Roux's shovel struck something hollow.

"Here," he called.

A

Looking at Roux's pit, A

Roux's pit had obviously been completely dug out. He kept shoveling, working around a stone oval that fitted onto mortared stoneworks below.

"Is that a tu

"Maybe," A

More of Lesauvage's men shone their beams into the hole Roux had made.

Within minutes, the old man had completely dug out around the oval. He leaned back against the wall. Perspiration soaked his clothing.

Fear swarmed inside A

"Get that cover off," Lesauvage ordered.

"I can't," Roux replied. "It's too heavy." He levered the shovel under the stone oval and demonstrated the difficulty he had in raising it only a couple inches.

"We need ropes," A

"Get the ropes," Lesauvage ordered. He gri

Minutes later, A

Anticipation fired every nerve of A

When the lid was clear, Lesauvage walked to the edge of the wolf trap and aimed his flashlight beam. The yellow cone of illumination melted the darkness away.

"What's that sound?" Lesauvage asked.

"Ru

"How far down?"

Holding her flashlight, A

"Do you need a rope?" Lesauvage asked.

"No." A

She almost fell, only hanging on with her hands.

The tu

She thought about the tu

They found it sometime before they decided to dig down to it, A

That gave her hope. She finished the climb and dropped into the stream. The water came up to her calves, but her boots were tall enough to keep her feet dry.

She aimed the flashlight up the stream and down. The tu

Upstream? Or downstream? She wasn't sure. Her flashlight didn't penetrate far enough to show her much.

A gleam of white suddenly caught her attention. Mired in the dirt and clay that coated the rock, scattered bones lay in disarray.

Enemies? A

Amid the death, though, the dull gleam of metal reflected the flashlight beam. She knelt and dragged a hand through the ru

When she lifted her hand, she held three gold coins and two silver ones. One of the gold ones bore the insignia of the Brotherhood of the Silent Rain.

"Miss Creed?" Lesauvage called.

"I'm here." A

"Well?" he asked.

"I'm coming up. Douse the light."

For a moment Lesauvage hesitated, obviously struggling with whether he wanted to obey.

"Please," A

That near admission of helplessness salved Lesauvage's pride somewhat. "Of course." He moved the light away.

A

Upstream, she thought, smiling. There's nowhere else that leaf could have come from. She felt certain another opening existed upstream. The storm's fury had probably torn leaves from the trees, and at least one of them had found its way into the cave.

She took hold of the rungs and climbed. At the top, she clambered out of the wolf trap.

"Well?" Lesauvage asked.

Roux and Avery stood near the wolf trap. The young man looked anxious. Roux wore an irritated look, like someone who'd been asked to stay on long after a party had lost its charm.

A

"We can escape down there," she told Roux. "Upstream. Take the boy."

Roux nodded, looking slightly less irritated.

Lesauvage pointed his pistol at A

Without a word, A

"The treasure's down there." A

Drawn by greed, Lesauvage and his men looked at the coins, swiveling their flashlight beams.

"Now," A

Roux grabbed Avery and shoved him toward the hole. The boy yelped in fear and tried to get away, but the old man's strength proved too much for him. Avery disappeared, falling through the wolf trap with Roux on top of him.